


Chamomile tea

by charlattehotte



Category: Hatchetfield Universe - Team StarKid
Genre: Affection, Crying, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, No Romance, Or is there?, charlotte is a small piece of sunshine, everyone would die for Charlotte actually, i dont know how else to tag this without spoiling it, light hearted
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:54:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29547552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charlattehotte/pseuds/charlattehotte
Summary: “What uh…? Are you um…? Why... are you crying behind a plant?”Charlotte wiped her face again and shook her head, waving a hand dismissively. “It’s nothing, it’s silly really-”
Relationships: Charlotte & Ted Spankoffski
Comments: 5
Kudos: 10





	Chamomile tea

**Author's Note:**

> Just a small cute fic that popped into my head. I would die for these characters honestly. I also wrote this because i needed brain-bleach after writing a ton of angst lmao

Ted made his way back into the CCRP building, making sure not to spill the four coffees he had balanced on a tray in one hand, along with another two cups in the other hand. He grumbled to himself- if someone had just offered to come with him, he wouldn’t be in this situation, but he supposed everyone else was busy that day. Except for Charlotte, who was invested in some book she was reading when he asked what she wanted, and he didn’t want to disturb her when she looked so calm. Even if the idea of spending time with her, even just walking to Beanies and back, was appealing.

God, why did Paul insist on them getting their coffee from Beanie’s anyway? Sure, the coffee had improved recently, but Starbucks was just so much less effort. Still, he chose to go along with it, their chai iced tea did have a certain quality that other coffee shops just didn’t have. Melissa spotted him coming in from the reception desk and practically skipped over to take her drink- a large mocha- off the tray.

“Uh uh,” Ted protested. “You can have it _if_ you also take Mr Davidson’s drink for me.”

“Hey, I already paid for it!” Melissa pretended to pout, but took Mr Davidson’s cappuccino anyway.

“Cheers, Mels.” With both hands now available, he carried the remaining drinks up to the office with ease. He passed by Bill first, who was on the phone. Ted put the caramel frappe down onto his desk and Bill gave a quick thumbs up in gratitude. Next, he walked over to Paul’s desk. Paul was looking down at his phone, focused on some mindless mobile game. Ted reached over and plonked his black coffee down in front of Paul, startling him.

“Ah!” he jumped in his seat, then looked up at Ted, smiling sheepishly. “Thanks- you’re a lifesaver.”

Ted waved a hand. “Yeah, yeah, pffff, _too busy to come with me_ , my ass.”

“I was! I am! I just- I took a break-” Paul shoved his phone into his pocket and opened a blank excel sheet on his computer. Ted shook his head and patted him on the shoulder before moving on to Charlotte’s desk. Except her chair was empty, and looking around the office, Ted saw that she was nowhere to be seen. The book she was reading remained closed on the desk, with a post-it note sticking out as a make-shift bookmark.

“Hey, where’s Cat?” He asked Paul and Bill.

Paul looked around for her and then shrugged. “I dunno, she just left suddenly, said she’d be back in a few minutes.”

Ted frowned. “Wh- is she okay?”

“Probably? She might have just gone to piss, I don’t know.” 

Bill leaned back in his seat, away from the phone to quietly intervene. “Nah, she went the other way.” He gestured to one of the office doors that led to upstairs. Ted raised his arms in further questioning, but Bill just motioned to the phone again and went back to his conversation.

Ted sighed, exasperated, and figured Charlotte probably got called to do some small job in another office. He figured he might as well make sure she got her drink while it was hot and who knows, maybe he could hang around and procrastinate some. He walked out the doors that Bill gestured to and was halfway to the stairs when he heard the sound of someone sniffling. He stopped and looked around for the source, and there behind a large plant he spotted Charlotte, sat on the floor, palms pressed against her eyes. He watched as she snivelled some more, surprised to see her like this.

“Charlotte?” Ted said, speaking softly so as to not startle her. Charlotte jumped anyway- did he really walk so quietly as to scare everyone in this damn office?- and looked up at him, eyes wet and puffy with tears.

“Oh, Hi Ted,” Charlotte began quickly dabbing her face with her sleeves, trying and failing to cover up the fact that she’d been crying.

Ted stuttered, suddenly unsure of how to handle this situation. “I uh, I got your drink.” He squatted down to her level and handed over the chamomile tea, trying awkwardly to stay balanced on his heels.

Charlotte took the cup with both hands, shoulders hunched in embarrassment. “...Thank you.” She took a sip, avoiding eye contact with Ted. She stared intensely at her lap, fiddling with the lid of the cup. Her cheeks, already flushed from crying, seemed to grow redder by the second the longer Ted stayed there.

“What uh…? Are you um…? Why... are you crying behind a plant?”

Charlotte wiped her face again and shook her head, waving a hand dismissively. “It’s nothing, it’s silly really-”

“Hey, what happened?” Ted pressed, voice still soft. He’d never seen Charlotte cry before, no matter how upset she seemed to get, which happened often. She’d usually just close off from everyone and grow cold instead, rather than show vulnerability. Whatever had managed to push her to tears this time must have been really bad, he thought.

“It’s just….” Charlotte sighed and trailed off.

“Yeah?”

“It’s the book I was reading,” she confessed. Ted just stared at her blankly as she continued. “Two of the characters finally kissed and…” Her eyes welled up with tears again. “It was just- it was so romantic and-”

Ted smiled with relief, his concern melting away. “A book? You’re crying over a book?”

“Yeah...” Charlotte looked up at him sheepishly before letting out a small laugh. “I suppose I am, yes.”

Ted couldn’t help but laugh with her. “So- so nothing happened?”

“They _finally kissed,_ Ted! I’ve been waiting for chapters and chapters!”

Ted just snorted. “You had me worried, Char.”

“Awww, I’m sorry!” Charlotte giggled, a glint of mischief in her eyes. She wiped her tears away once again before standing up and dusting her skirt off. She reached out a hand and helped Ted also get onto his feet. She held onto his hand even after he had stood up, and the two of them looked at each other, smiling, before Ted broke the silence and reluctantly pulled his hand away.

“C’mon, I have a report to do, and _you_ apparently have a book to cry over,” He put an arm around her and squeezed her affectionately.

-

The two of them walked back through the doors of the office, and Paul and Bill looked round at the sound. Noticing Charlotte’s face, they both rushed over, worried.

“Charlotte? Are you okay?” Bill asked, looking at Ted for answers, who just shrugged, still grinning. Bill frowned, even more concerned.

Charlotte just smiled, embarrassed. “Yes, yes, everything’s fine, don’t worry.”

“You look like you’ve been crying,” said Paul, rubbing shoulder comfortingly. “What happened?”

“Yeah, Charlotte, what happened?” Ted said, eyebrows raised dramatically, much to the further confusion of Bill and Paul. "Go on," he prompted.

Charlotte blushed again and sipped her tea, looking away as she rocked on her heels slightly. “...A book...”

“A book,” Ted repeated smugly. “Two of the characters in her book kissed.”

Charlotte batted at Ted’s head, grinning. “Don’t make fun of me!” Paul and Bill’s worry also simmered away as they looked at each other, trying not to laugh.

“Oh, I’m not making fun of you,” Ted reassured, absolutely making fun of her. “You’ve been waiting for _chapters_! It was so _romantic_!”

“Hey!” Charlotte shoved him playfully and giggled again, causing Bill and Paul to chuckle along with the two of them. Ted smiled warmly, feeling a sudden rush of affection for his co-workers, especially Charlotte. 

He caught her eye and she grinned even wider, and he felt his heart flutter in his chest.

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr is @charlattehotte and @charlotte-spankoffski!!


End file.
